PGI’S 1,200-strong nursing staff has over 150 on maternity leave. In addition to the new mothers, another 70 are willfully absent, 50 are on earned leave, and on an average 30 are on medical leave daily. At GMCH 32, an average of 20 of the 380 nurses are on paid leave. This month itself, 16 nurses are on maternity leave and around 20 posts are lying vacant.
At GMSH 16, the office of nursing superintendent is inundated with requests from private nursing colleges to take interns for practical training. The catch? These students are preparing to go abroad and want training as part of the curriculum.
Low pay structure is a major reason behind the exodus. “While we begin at Rs 12,000, the starting salary of doctors is more than double,” said a PGI nursing staff on conditions of anonymity. “They are more qualified than us but we work equally hard,” she said. At private hospitals, the situation is worse with pay scales beginning at Rs 5,000.
Compare this with salaries that nurses are paid in foreign countries. “In the US, nurses start with $ 45,000 annually,” said Gagan Saini, Assistant vice-president of INSCOL Nursing Academy.
Lack of growth opportunity
Low recognition and lack of growth opportunities have resulted in stagnation and disinterest at government hospitals. “The PGI has been functioning without a nursing superintendent for the last three and a half years,” revealed a senior nurse.
Some of them are preparing for the Nursing License Exam to avail opportunities abroad. “We have a good number of nurses from hospitals in Chandigarh,” said an official of Max HealthStaff, Sector 8, Chandigarh, which provides free training for the exam.
Helpless administration
Meanwhile, administration is helpless as far as absentees are concerned. “Most of the nurses are young and newly married. They also have to take maternity leaves,” said chief nursing officer Saroj Parvez. “Nurses don’t easily get ex-India leave. As a result, many of them who go abroad state no reason for their absence. PGI follows the laid down procedure of notifying them again and again,” she said.
However, the high attrition rate does not worry the administration. “There are an equal number of nurses waiting to join PGI,” said AK Gupta, Deputy Director Administration.
At GMCH 32, Medical Superintendent Dr Harsh Mohan described the situation as ‘disturbing’.
“The problem with hiring new staff is that they have to be trained from scratch,” he said.
Effect on patients
In PGI’s male medical ward, one nurse takes care of 28 patients. At the Neurosurgery Intensive Care Unit, one nurse works on a shift for six beds. According to norms, there should be one nurse per patient in the ICU. Just six to eight nurses work for the 16-bedded Pediatric ICU and an equal number manage the 28-bedded Neonatal Surgical ICU in the Advanced Pediatric Centre. For the 13 incubators in the NICU, against the need of at least 15 nurses per shift, just eight nursing personnel manage the work.
What needs to be done
“More nursing colleges need to be opened. With more private hospitals coming up and health tourism taking a huge leap, opportunities can be created in India itself,” said Saini. “More nurses would mean less pressure and effective management,” he said.
Improvement in working environment would also go a long way in increasing work satisfaction. “Government should start paying us for overtime, and promotion and growth avenues should be increased,” said a nursing staff from GMCH 32.